HSBC has announced a range of measures intended to help struggling businesses cope with challenges from the China-U.S. trade war and the anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
As the Hong Kong economy is facing its worst crisis in a decade, HSBC has become the first bank to take action to help its small and medium enterprise customers by offering fee cuts and rebates.
The bank and its subsidiary Hang Seng Bank are offering an interest rebate of up to HK$20,000 ($2,550) to SMEs that take out loans under SME Financing Guarantee Scheme and the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme for repayments made between March and August.
At the same time, the bank is extending until June 30, 2022 its subsidy of up to HK$50,000 that is given to SMEs to pay for the fee for the government to back the loan. From September 2 until the end of the year, merchants will also enjoy lower fees for B2B transfers using HSBC’s PayMe platform as the bank has revised its fee to 0.75 percent, down from 1.5 percent.
Protests Affecting Business
Months of anti-government protests across Hong Kong have disrupted business and traffic, and caused a drop in tourist numbers to the special administrative territory and paralyzed shopping areas.
According to HSBC, SMEs account for over 98 percent of local enterprises and around 45 percent of total employment. We have spent time listening to our customers and have heard their voices at this difficult time, Terence Chiu, the bank’s head of commercial banking for Hong Kong, was quoted by “SCMP” as saying.
Countries including Singapore and the U.S. have issued advisories to defer non-essential travel to Hong Kong.